Book Review: Diwali

October 15, 2024 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

It may just be because I live in a part of the country with a lot of people from India, but I feel like Diwali has been gaining in awareness in the past few years and is becoming a holiday that more people acknowledge if not celebrate on their own.

If you want to learn more about Diwali to share with your kids, there are a lot of great books on the subject. Diwali by Sital Gorasia Chapman, illustrated by Darshika Varma, is a cute picture book that follows siblings Sonali and Jay as they prepare for the holiday.

To give an overview of the holiday and the story, Diwali is known as the festival of lights and is celebrated over five days (the exact days vary). The book walks through the days and different things that are done, such as cleaning to invite wealth into the home, making rangoli and diyas (this book calls them divas, though I generally see the spelling with a y in English), preparing sweets and other food, going shopping for new clothes and decorating the home.

Because Diwali is celebrated on the new moon, lots of lights and colorful decorations are involved, as well as lots of food. It’s a time for family to get together, celebrate and eat. The celebration ends with fireworks representing the triumph of good over evil and light over darkness.

The next day is the new year, time to wear those new outfits, have a special meal and open presents. They visit the temple and give food offerings to the gods. There are more gatherings with food, family, friends and gifts, and sharing treats with neighbors.

The final day is a celebration of the bond between siblings, and they exchange gifts and spend time together.

After the story wraps up, there is more general information about Diwali and its meaning, the use of the lunar calendar and the stories that are told at Diwali (different parts of the country tell different stories about different demons being defeated). There are instructions for making a diva out of salt dough and a rangoli made with beans and grains, as well as a recipe for shrikhand, a yogurt dessert made with saffron and pistachios.

There’s also a quiz at the back so you can test your knowledge of Diwali.

This book is really cute and should engage kids to learn about the holiday. The crafts and recipes are easy and would be fun to try in the classroom or at home.

About the book: 48 pages, hardcover. Published 2024 by words & pictures. Suggested retail price $14.99

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Books About Bugs Through the Seasons

Growing Up Ladybug and How to Become a Butterfly are both by Stepanka Sekaninova and illustrated by Linh Dao, and they came out at the same time and are on similar themes, so let’s look at them together.

Growing Up Ladybug is narrated by Mariella, a seven-spot ladybug. She talks about the parts of a ladybug, where they live, different kinds of ladybugs, why humans love them, their defenses against predators and the life cycle of a ladybug.

The drawings are cute if not always scientifically accurate, it’s not in such a way that’s likely to confuse kids (who probably already know that ladybug mamas don’t push their larval babies around in strollers, for instance.

It’s a good general description of the life cycle of a lady bug and why we like having them around.

About the book: 32 pages, hardcover. Published 2026 by Albatross Media. Suggested retail price $16.95.

Similarly, How to Become a Butterfly covers the life cycle of a butterfly, starting with caterpillars eating burning nettle leaves. (Here Amanda is the narrator.) The book talks about a few of the more than 18,000 daytime butterflies in the world as well as other creatures that live in the meadow (there’s that ladybug again, along with crickets, bees and other bugs).

It also covers some of the enemies of caterpillars like wasps and spiders, and the defenses that caterpillars use to try to prevent being eaten. It illustrates how caterpillars grow and change as they molt and prepare to pupate, and what a caterpillar looks like before and while it is forming its chrysalis. And while the book uses the word metamorphasis it doesn’t really talk about what happens between the caterpillar forming a chrysalis and the butterfly hatching.

This butterfly is a peacock butterfly, and once it hatches the book covers the parts of a butterfly and the life cycle. It also talks about nocturnal moths (though it says nocturnal butterflies are “usually called moths” when moths are actually a different species) and what butterflies do at night.

I’m maybe a little hard on this book because my daughter is a butterfly expert from way back, but it is still cute and good for the very basic basics of the butterfly life cycle.

Both books would be fun additions to your bookshelf for younger kids starting to learn about different animals or who have an interest in insects.

About the book: 32 pages, hardcover. Published 2026 by Albatross Media. Suggested retail price $16.95.

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